The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation-Chapter 58 - 56 —…sorry

Garrick’s gaze settled on Kaiden for a brief moment.

"What are you talking about?"

"I’m the head trainee."

"No, you’re not."

"What? Yes, I am—"

"What does ’head trainee’ mean?"

Kaiden hesitated for a moment, thinking it through.

"...the strongest trainee in the division."

"Exactly." Garrick tilted his chin toward Zephyrion. "You lost to him. That makes him the strongest."

"It was one fight! If we go again, I can—"

"What are you, a child? Stop whining. I watched that fight. You had chances. You got beaten. Simple."

Garrick’s gaze turned cold, pinning Kaiden in place.

"What matters is whether you can own it. Only pussies can’t accept their loss. What are you, huh? A pussy?"

Kaiden’s fists tightened, then he slowly lowered his head.

"...I’m not..."

"Say it properly."

"...I’m not."

"Good. Then get out of my sight and go train."

As Kaiden stepped down, Garrick tossed the reward toward Zephyrion. The moment he caught sight of it, his eyes seemed to flicker faintly.

"Thank you."

As he turned and walked away, whispers spread across the trainees almost immediately.

"Wait... Kaiden isn’t head trainee anymore?"

"So it’s the young lord now?"

"Well... that fight wasn’t even close..."

Crack!

"Eei—"

The trainees flinched at the sudden sound. Their gazes snapped toward Kaiden, only to see that he had crushed one of the weights in his grip.

"Shh—move."

Drip.

Drip.

The metal had punctured his palm, blood seeping out and dripping onto the ground.

Yet there was no trace of pain in his eyes, only a fierce, burning intensity.

...

The training day continued as usual, with the trainees made to run until late afternoon.

Even as he ran, Kaiden’s gaze never left Zephyrion.

’He’s still seated.’

Even after everything, Zephyrion hadn’t joined the training. Kaiden had forced down the humiliation from earlier, but now his thoughts had shifted elsewhere.

’He doesn’t deserve it.’

The head trainee position he had bled and sweated for... someone who barely even trained didn’t deserve to hold it.

Kaiden’s fists tightened.

’I just need another chance.’

If he could fight him again, he was certain the outcome wouldn’t be the same.

As Kaiden continued watching, Zephyrion suddenly opened his eyes. He reached for his wrist and removed a crude bracelet.

A faint glint passed through his eyes, as though a heavy weight had just been lifted.

Dropping the bracelet, he rose and walked over to Garrick.

Kaiden’s gaze lingered on it, his brows knitting slightly.

’What’s that?’

He recalled Zephyrion mentioning earlier that he was disrupting his training.

’That’s what he’s using to train?’

While they lifted hundred-kilogram weights and ran themselves half-dead... this was what he had been doing?

Kaiden scoffed under his breath, shaking his head.

’Let’s see.’

He slipped away from the group and made his way toward the spot. Bending slightly, he picked up the bracelet and examined it in silence.

’A relic.’

Whatever it was, it couldn’t possibly compare to what they went through.

He fastened it around his wrist.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Kaiden scoffed.

’You call this nonsense trai—’

An overwhelming flood of information roared through his mind.

Darkness swallowed his vision.

...

Kaiden jolted upright.

"W-what... where am I?"

His eyes darted around, scanning his surroundings, quickly realizing he was inside a clinic room.

"You’re softer than I thought. Took you long enough to wake up."

Garrick closed the magazine he had been reading, staring at Kaiden with a faint frown.

"I-Instructor Garrick..." Kaiden hesitated, as though trying to piece things together. "W-what happened?"

"You don’t remember?"

"...no."

"Hah... figures. That thing hit your mind pretty hard. Kids these days are fragile."

Garrick shook his head lightly.

"Anyways, you put on Zephyrion’s relic and dropped instantly."

As the memories came rushing back, Kaiden’s expression tightened and he clutched his head. He could still feel the echo of that overwhelming pain from the moment he put it on.

"...that... relic... what was that thing?"

"Hm?" Garrick leaned back slightly. "It floods your mind with information and forces it to expand. Painful as hell. Not something a trainee can handle. You should be glad you blacked out."

"...then what was he doing with it?"

"Who? Zephyrion?" Garrick shrugged lightly. "That’s what he trains with."

Kaiden’s eyes widened.

"...with that?"

Even a single second with it had felt as though the weight of the world had crashed into his mind. He had never experienced such excruciating pain in his life.

"Haha... yeah. He barely takes it off."

"...."

Kaiden’s fingers slowly curled into his palms.

"So? What did you think he was doing sitting there? Slacking off?"

"...yeah."

"Hah! You really thought I’d let someone slack off?"

"...he never joins our training, so I thought—"

"Haha."

Garrick burst into laughter, shaking his head.

"That’s nonsense. I never asked him to join because he doesn’t need it."

"...what?"

Garrick’s grin widened slightly.

"That boy... he beat an instructor during his assessment."

Kaiden’s eyes widened further.

An instructor...

"Well, you’re alive, so I’m done here. Don’t use this as an excuse to slack off. You’ve got a few minutes. Understood?"

"...yes, Instructor."

As Garrick left, Kaiden’s gaze remained fixed on the door for several moments, his fingers tightening slowly.

He had been wrong. Completely wrong.

Zephyrion had never been a slacker. If anything, he had been training harder than anyone else in the training ground.

’Harder than me.’

Kaiden gritted his teeth and let out a slow breath. He knew what he had to do.

A moment later, as he returned to the iron training ground, he made his way toward Zephyrion, who sat with his eyes closed, meditating quietly.

"Look... Kaiden’s back."

"He’s heading for the young lord..."

"You think they’re about to fight again?"

Whispers drifted through the air, but Kaiden paid them no mind as he came to a stop before him.

As the young lord slowly opened his eyes, Kaiden suddenly bowed, bending fully at the waist.

"I looked down on you. I thought you were slacking while the rest of us trained... but I was wrong. You beat me fair and square. I accept that. For looking down on you... I’m sorry."